Suspected DeKalb County serial rapist sentenced to 50 years in prison
Demetrious Roam (DeKalb County Police Department)
DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. - An Atlanta man has been sentenced to decades in prison after pleading guilty to raping one woman and trying to assault another in a single week in 2020.
On Tuesday, 22-year-old Demetrius Samuel Roam pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault, aggravated assault strangulation, aggravated assault with the intent to rape, armed robbery, kidnapping, aggravated sodomy, and rape.
After his arrest in 2020, police told FOX 5's Deidra Dukes that Roam found his victims on Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms. The victims are in their late teens and early 20s.
"He befriended them, started chatting with them, went through a process. He would get them to come to this area, then he would sexually assault them," Maj. A.T. Mears said.
According to investigators, on Oct. 17, 2020, DeKalb County police officers were called to an apartment complex on the 2500 block of Shallowford Road, where Roam lived with a family member. It was there that they met a 20-year-old victim.
The woman told officers that she met Roam at the apartment complex, and he had dragged her into an apartment, strangled her, and put a knife to her neck. After a struggle, the woman was able to secure herself alone in a bathroom and fled when it appeared that he had left. Neighbors had already called the police after hearing screams.
In the apartment, police discovered that the woman's purse, credit cards, and phone were missing.
Six days later, officers returned to the complex for another call. This time, they found a 22-year-old woman who said she was grabbed by a man and forced into a closet at knifepoint. The victim said that Roam raped her and then let her go. When describing the man, the victim said he had a distinct red tattoo on his neck.
During their investigation, authorities say they learned Roam had been suspected of a 2019 rape at the complex that had gone cold. Both of his latest victims identified his photo in a lineup.
Investigators say Roam has been linked to additional assaults and attempted assaults including two at the complex in October 2020 and August 2019, two rapes in Clayton County in 2019, and four rapes in Alabama between September 2019 and August 2020. They believe there may be other victims still unreported.
After his guilty plea, a DeKalb County Superior Court judge sentenced Roam to 50 years in prison plus life on probation. He will also register as a sex offender and has been banned for life from social media.